Speaking to attendees at the Big Sound music conference in Fortitude Valley. Photo: Glenn Hunt

"But I'm just not sure that those people are ambassadors for the kind of feminism that's going to resonate for a 13-year-old girl."

A longtime collaborator with his brother Tim, Finn said he was thrilled to have worked with his wife Sharon and sons Liam and Elroy on his most recent album Dizzy Heights.

"It's not without its sensitivities and prickly moments where you've got family all of a sudden to deal with when you're trying to tell them you don't like what they're playing in the second verse, you get that look," he said.

"But I love it, I hope we do more of it … an enlarged Finn family band might be one of the coolest things you could ever see."

Former Killing Heidi frontwoman Ella Hooper said the battle between disposable and meaningful pop music was unlikely to ever end.

"I think there'll always be oscillating trends between the shine factor and the depth," she said.

"They often co-exist as well, but I think people who are here at Big Sound tend to be more of the depth variety."

Hooper is at Big Sound as the host of the Telstra Road to Discovery Songwriting program, alongside previous winner Dave Garnham.

She said there was a renewed focus on the importance of the songwriter when it came to making music that resonates.

"There's a saying, you know, you can't polish a turd, and the song really is king," she said.